The League in Exile
by horus42
Summary: In a world where Superman has taken over, and rules as a Tyrant, the few remaining heroes fight back, in order to liberate the Earth. (AU, inspired by the Justice Lords and Injustice: Gods Among Us. Features character deaths and mild language)
1. Prologue

Oliver Queen, the Green Arrow, stood atop a rooftop in the rebuilt district of New Metropolis. He took a deep breath, scanning the site one last time. The podium was set up at the front of the crowd, flanked by people he had once counted as friends. But they weren't friends anymore. Not since Clark went mad with grief. Not since he had decided mankind couldn't be trusted to rule itself. Not since Superman took over the world.

Oliver raised his bow, and knocked his arrow. He only had one shot at this; he needed to make it count. The arrow's head glowed with a sickly, green light. Clark's only weakness: Kryptonite. Oliver didn't pull back on his bowstring, not yet. Clark had yet to show himself.

Almost as if on cue, the crowd roared, as their leader, their hero, their savior, descended from the skies. Oliver scoffed at this. Clark used to be a hero, but no longer. Now he was nothing more than a tyrant, who ruled the Earth with an iron fist. But all of that was about to change. The reign of Superman would finally come to an end.

Even though he was several blocks away, Oliver could hear Clark clearly as he landed and began to speak. "Today is a solemn day; the tenth anniversary of the destruction of Metropolis. Even though I have long since seen that justice was done to the monster who committed this heinous crime, the Joker's legacy still haunts our world to this day. But rest assured, this resistance movement will be dealt with. These criminals will be brought to justice!"

The crowd cheered, and Oliver saw his chance. He drew his arrow back, and hoped to God that this would work. He released his hold on the string, and the Kryptonite tipped arrow flew towards Superman's chest. Oliver watched in anticipation as the distance closed, but before the arrow struck its target, a red and yellow blur passed in front of the podium, and Clark was left unharmed.

"Dammit, Barry!" Oliver swore under his breath. "Why now…?" He started to run, away from the podium, away from the alien king he had just attempted to kill. He should have known that The Flash would have been there. That he would have swooped in and caught the arrow. It was stupid of him to not see this. And coming here to kill Superman had been against Nightwing's orders, now that his plan had failed… He didn't want to think about the implications, of what it might mean for the other members of the resistance. Now, their only hope, the last piece of Kryptonite on Earth, was being taken away to Cyborg or Blue Beetle, so that it could be destroyed.

Oliver stopped dead in his tracks as he heard Clark's closing statements, and the sound of rushing wind as the Man of Steel took flight. It was all over now. He turned before he even heard Clark's soft voice saying, "Hello, Ollie."

"Clark." Oliver spat, contempt of his former friend clear in his voice. "I'm surprised you don't have Diana or Hal doing your dirty work." Of all the people who had rallied under Superman's banner of world domination, it hurt Oliver the most that Hal Jordan, the former Green Lantern, had gone over. "I saw you had them with you, though obviously I didn't see Barry until it was too late."

"That was the idea." Said Clark, coldly. "You tried to kill me, Ollie. I can't let that go unpunished."

Oliver threw down his bow and held out his hands. "Take me away then, oh fearless leader. Have me executed, like Lex Luthor. I'm just another criminal to you, aren't I?" he asked, mockingly.

Superman shook his head, his red cape flapping in the wind. "No. You used to be my friend."

"Bruce used to be your friend too!" Shouted Oliver. "And you still killed him!"

"I know. I won't deny it. I still wish that Bruce could have seen things my way." Clark looked down and sighed. "I'll make it quick. Painless. And no one needs to know you were ever here. I'll give you the same dignity that Bruce died with."

Though he could have tried to run, Oliver knew that he had no chance of escaping Clark. Instead, he looked his former friend full in the face, and set his jaw, readying himself for the inevitable. The very last thing that Green Arrow saw was the red glow of Superman's heat vision.


	2. Chapter I

Miles beneath the surface of the ocean, Dick Grayson walked through the halls of Atlantis. Aquaman had been kind enough to allow the rest of the resistance, the League in Exile, to use it as a base of operations. Nowhere else on Earth was safe for them, Atlantis was the lone bastion of defense against Superman and his regime. The great domed city was flooded with refugees and political dissidents, those who believed that Superman had no claim to the Artic throne he sat upon, that he had no right to enforce martial law, or kill anyone deemed a threat at will.

Despite all of the recent setbacks, and the death of Green Arrow, Nightwing was glad that he could finally bring some good news to the others. He passed two Atlantean guards as he crossed the threshold into Aquaman's throne room. The King of Atlantis had set up a table in large room, a seat for each member of the League in Exile. Nightwing's own seat and those formerly belonging to fallen comrades were the only ones left unoccupied. With a twinge of nostalgia and pain, Dick sat next to the empty chair that sat at the head of the table. That seat had originally belonged to the founder of the League in Exile, Bruce Wayne. But the Batman had died years ago, and in his absence, Nightwing had tried to step up, to lead the resistance through this war.

After taking his seat, Dick cleared his throat, and began to speak. "As I'm sure you all know by now… Oliver Queen is dead." He turned his head slightly, and faced Black Canary. "Dinah, I'm so sorry."

She didn't look up from the surface of the table. "It's not your fault, Dick." She said nothing more.

At this, Aquaman pounded his fist on the table. "What I'd like to know is why our side is the only one suffering any casualties! We cannot defeat Superman and his so-called "Justice League" without being willing to take a life!"

"Because of Bruce." Said Nightwing. "He was our founder, and he swore that we would show the world that we were better than our enemies, that we would fight, but never kill. And I plan on honoring his memory by following in his footsteps."

Barbara Gordon, formerly Batgirl, though now called Oracle spoke up. "I agree with Dick. If we start killing them, stooping to their level, then Batman will have died for nothing."

"And if we don't start killing them and actually win this war, then Oliver and all the others we've lost will have died for nothing!" Shouted Dinah.

"We can win without killing anyone. We're still heroes, despite what the world might think. Now, I have some good news." Dick paused and waited for the others to calm down before he continued. "Even though we've lost the last bit of Kryptonite we had, we can still defeat Clark."

"How?" Asked John Stewart, the current Green Lantern. "We don't have anyone who can stand up to Superman in a fair fight. Hell, the best I can do is slow him down, even when my ring's at full charge."

Nightwing smirked. "Clark has other weaknesses, ones that most people tend to forget. He's vulnerable to magic, and can be beaten by other Kryptonians."

Aquaman scoffed. "Well it's good that we happen to have a talented magic user in the form of Zatanna." He said, as he gestured towards an empty chair. "Oh, wait, we tried that already. And she died." Nightwing tried to cut him off, but he continued. "And I cannot believe I forget our vast army of Kryptonian warriors! No, wait. Except for Superman, they're extinct."

"Let me finish, Arthur. I've found out that Clark does still have a shred of decency left in him." When he was met with confused looks, Dick took a flash drive from his utility belt and plugged it into the Atlantean computer integrated into their conference table. A holographic display of a map flickered to life. "There are two people we believed to be dead that Clark couldn't bring himself to kill: Billy Batson and Kara Zor-El, otherwise known as Shazam and Supergirl." With the touch of a few buttons, he zoomed in on the map, showing more detail as Dick went on. "They're being held deep underground, in a maximum security facility beneath Gotham City. While underground, Billy can't be struck by lightning to turn into Shazam, and they have Red Sun lamps burning 24/7, to keep Kara powerless. I'll lead a small strike team into the base, we'll grab the two of them, and get out. With Shazam's magic, and Supergirl's Kryptonian powers, we'll stand a chance against Clark again."

"I'm going with you." Said Dinah, very matter-of-factly. "They killed my husband, Dick. I need to fight back."

Nightwing nodded. "John, I'd for you to come too."

The Green Lantern agreed, and the three of them stood from the table. But before they could go, Aquaman shouted, "Wait! What else do you know about this place? Who's in charge of security?"

Nightwing pulled up the file again, and went through his plan in more detail, before finally saying, "For the most part, the guards are just men with guns. We've faced all too many of them before. But the warden and head of security will be more problematic. The security chief is Red Hood." He paused, feeling betrayed that his successor as Robin chose to align himself against Bruce. "And the warden, as far as my intelligence tells me… is Bane."

"Bane?" Asked Aquaman, suddenly furious. "Then I'm coming too. I've wanted to teach Bane a lesson for a long time." He spared a glance over at his queen's empty throne.

"Then the four of us will set out in half an hour." Said Dick. The rest of the League in Exile filed out of the chamber, leaving Nightwing alone with his team, to plan their first move.


End file.
